OT: not a big fan of bottled water industry

shred_da_gorge · Since 12 Nov 2008 1342 Posts Da Hood & Da Wood XTreme Poster

Subject: Official 30-Day Comment Period Started Sept 1: Oppose Cascade Locks Nestlé Water Exchange

I would urge you to write to the Oregon Water Resources Department about the proposed water rights transfer regarding Nestle. IMPORTANT: You MUST write a snail-mail letter to arrive at their office by September 30th at 5:00 p.m. in order to be considered They are not accepting e-mail letters.

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/press/press-releases/cascadelockscommentperiodbegins/

Press Release
Food & Water Watch
September 1, 2010

Comment Period Begins for Controversial Water Exchange That Would Bring Nestlé Water Bottling Plant into the Gorge

Portland, Ore. – Today marks the start of a 30-day public comment period on a controversial water exchange that would allow Nestlé to bottle and sell water currently being used by endangered fish from the Columbia River Gorge. Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) is considering an application from Cascade Locks and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) for a water exchange that would allow the town to sell ODFW’s spring water to Nestlé to bottle.

“Citizens from the Gorge and across Oregon are deeply concerned about the social and environmental impacts of selling our water to a multinational corporation,” said Lori Ann Burd, Restore Mt. Hood Campaign Manager and Staff Attorney for Bark. “This water comes onto state land from Mt. Hood National Forest, so it really belongs to all of us, and Nestlé’s plan is not an appropriate use of this precious resource.”

Earlier this summer, a United States Geological Service (USGS) report that found ground water levels are falling across the entire Columbia Plateau, a region that includes Cascade Locks. According to the USGS, groundwater levels in the Eastern Columbia Plateau have steeply declined over the past 25 years in 80 percent of the nearly 500 wells measured. Although the sampling did not include Cascade Locks’ groundwater, this study suggests a shrinking supply of water, a resource once thought to be inexhaustible in the region.

“In an area that has always been water-rich, this USGS report is a wake-up call that the abundant supply of water Oregonians have taken for granted is diminishing,” said Julia DeGraw, the Northwest organizer with Food & Water Watch and Keep Nestlé Out of the Gorge. “We should not sell our finite water supply to a corporation with a long history as a bad actor.”

Nestlé has asked ODFW to approve an agreement that would exchange part of ODFW’s water at Oxbow Springs with an equivalent amount of well water from the city of Cascade Locks. Nestlé would then buy both the city’s well and spring water to bottle under its Pure Life and Arrowhead labels, pumping an average of 167 million gallons of water out of Cascade Locks every year. While the financial details of the deal have not yet been disclosed, Nestlé has paid an average of $.00225 per gallon where it has brokered similar deals in other areas. A gallon of Nestlé’s spring water sold in single-serve plastic jugs sells for $5.30.

The lack of facts on the ground is a serious concern for Keep Nestlé out of the Gorge, a coalition of 15 environmental and social justice organizations. “How can we know what a sustainable withdrawal of water is when we don’t have a map or adequate baseline data on the city of Cascade Locks’ groundwater?” said DeGraw. “Approving it would be an irresponsible move that could cause serious damage to Cascade Locks’ municipal drinking water source. OWRD should deny this application. “

Clean, cold water from the spring is crucial for endangered fish living both inside the fish hatchery and in nearby Herman Creek, but scientists have not yet determined whether or not they would be adversely impacted by this proposal. In addition, the water bottling facility would introduce up to 200 truck trips a day to rural roads, increasing traffic and smog in the Gorge and potentially affecting tourism in Cascade Locks.

Public comments on the Nestlé water exchange should be sent to the Water Resources Department; Attn: Transfer Section, 725 Summer St. NE, Suite A, Salem, OR 97301-1266, Transfer Number 11109. Public comments will close on Sept. 30, after which point it will decide whether or not to approve the exchange.

The Keep Nestlé Out of the Gorge coalition members include Food & Water Watch, Alliance for Democracy, Bark, Environment Oregon, Trout Unlimited, Columbia Group Sierra Club and Columbia Riverkeeper. More details about the Cascade Locks water exchange can be found at http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/NoNestleinOR or on the Keep Nestlé Out of the Gorge Facebook page.

Hein · Since 08 Mar 2005 1314 Posts Possessed

Here's another article that appeared in the WSJ online on May 5th, 2010

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704414504575243921712969144.html

Considered posting it then but wasn't in the mood to stir the pot on that particular day.

pdxmonkeyboy · Fri Sep 03, 10 9:36 am

I never really understood why people in this area buy bottled water given that we have some of the cleanest tap water in the entire country. You always see people going camping with a huge cases of bottled water. Can't you just fill up a couple of used OJ or milk containers? Portlander's pay a metric shit ton of money for water (over half of the bill is storm water fees) so we might as well use it.

anywho, thanks for the link!!

blowhard · Since 26 Dec 2005 2027 Posts Windward

I loved the Arab saying "when you Americans pay more for water than my oil "

shred_da_gorge · Fri Sep 03, 10 12:46 pm

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4911 Posts Portland Unstrapped

wonder how many plastic bottles a $50 million bottling plant kicks out a year and how many trucks it puts on I-84 a day

http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/

blowhard · Since 26 Dec 2005 2027 Posts Windward

perhaps they could skip the bottles and put in those pipes that are underground
and come to the faucet Laughing

?
bottled water has got to be the stupidist thing ever ,unless you live somewhere else
I've put away quite a few Sparkletts jugs in my time

The water in Parker Arizona would turn everything brown ,no one drank it

water will be the next issue and the rustbelt will be back ,ownin it ! Rolling Eyes

pdxmonkeyboy · Sat Sep 04, 10 8:14 am

Indeed the wars of the future will be fought over water.

I spent a week in Toledo this summer. You wouldn't believe how much the lake level has dropped. Places with boat ramps and launches are now just mud. Could have been a big seiche but it lasted even after the winds changed.

snedzz · Since 14 May 2006 40 Posts

check out the Arkansas river, nestle is doing the same there! ship water to Colorado, bottle it, then sell it!

pjc · Since 06 Mar 2005 649 Posts Addicted

yeah, we're really parched for water here in the pacific northwest. not much precipitation at all, here in the rain forest.

plus our economy is so rocking, everybody even remotely interested in employment has multiple job offers.

and how could we possibly transport this bottled water? being at the nexus of rail, barge, sea port and freeway, any form of physical transportation is hard to fathom.

so this whole notion of bottling our water and selling it out of state, creating jobs and importing money, that's a real non-starter. let's squash that idea right in the bud.

kitezilla · Since 22 Jun 2006 453 Posts gorge Obsessed

“Whiskey's for drinking, water's for fighting” — Mark Twain.